Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang

Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang has quietly become one of the more dependable comedies currently available in Australia on BINGE and Foxtel Now, and in the US on HBO Max Amazon Channel and Cinemax Amazon Channel. It knows exactly what kind of film it is from the opening scene, and never loses that thread. With 1,961 viewer ratings on TMDB, this is not a title flying under the radar. Emma Thompson sets the tone, and the rest of the cast matches it scene for scene. There is no real reason to keep putting it off — it is right there on BINGE.

Part of the current wave of titles people are actually watching, Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang earns its spot. Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang does what great comedies rarely manage — it is actually funny, consistently, across the whole run. Nanny McPhee appears at the door of a harried young mother who is trying to run the family farm while her husband is away at war. But once she’s arrived, Nanny discovers that the children are fighting a war of their own against two spoiled city cousins who have just moved in. Relying on everything from a flying motorcycle and a statue that comes to life to a tree-climbing piglet and a baby elephant, Nanny uses her magic to teach her mischievous charges five new lessons. Emma Thompson and Asa Butterfield lead a cast that brings real weight to the material. It was released in 2010. Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang earns its laughs from character rather than situation, which is why it does not wear thin the way pure farce tends to. It knows exactly what it is, and does not try to be anything else.

If you need a comedy that actually makes you laugh, Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang is a strong candidate. It rewards viewers regardless of what else is in their watch history. A contained runtime means every scene is doing real work. Emma Thompson is funny in a way that holds up on rewatch. Put it on when you need something guaranteed to land.